NewsRescue
Saudi Arabia has been accused of beheading 12 people while attention is diverted to the World Cup.
The country is said to have executed a dozen men in 10 days despite the Crown Prince’s promise to limit capital punishment.
According to the human rights organisation Reprieve, the defendants were sentenced to death after being jailed for non-violent drug offences.
The organisation’s director Maya Foa has warned how the death tally could soon increase to 13.
They highlighted the case of taxi driver Hussein Abo al-Kheir, who is facing execution in a Saudi prison.
Foa said: “While Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was putting himself centre stage at the World Cup opening ceremony, seated next to Fifa supremo Gianni Infantino, taxi driver Hussein Abo al-Kheir was cowering in a cell, terrified that the executioner will take him next.
“While all eyes are on the football, Saudi Arabia is carrying out a horrifying execution spree, killing people like Hussein, an innocent man who was tortured by Saudi police to ‘confess’.
“Saudi Arabia executed more people than ever before in the first six months of this year, and has now begun executing drug offenders, in large numbers and in secret, as the world focuses on its neighbour.”
According to the non-profit organisation, which gathered data on this week’s executions, most of the defendants were beheaded with a sword.
Three of the men executed were Pakistani, four Syrian, two Jordanian and three Saudi, Reprieve said.
Another man from Jordan was reportedly transferred to a prison wing and is due to be executed on Friday, the NGO added.